Drizzt looked to the ground and tried to hide his uneasiness with the assessment.

“But I like it not,” Wulfgar continued sincerely. “Not at all.” Drizzt looked back to him uncomfortably, almost sheepishly.

“And I like the look upon your face, the discomfort of your spirit, even less,” Wulfgar continued, now apparently a bit perturbed. “I am a warrior who has faced giants and dragons without fear. But I would pale at the notion of battling Drizzt Do’Urden. Remember who you are, noble ranger.”

A smile found its way onto Drizzt’s face. “Thank you, my friend,” he said. “Of all the challenges I have faced, this is perhaps the most trying.”

“I prefer you without the thing,” said Wulfgar.

“As do I,” came another voice from behind them. They turned to see a middle-aged man, well muscled and tall, walking toward them. He seemed casual enough, wearing simple clothes and sporting a neatly trimmed black beard. His hair, too, was black, though speckles of silver edged it.

“Greetings, Wulfgar and Drizzt Do’Urden,” he said with a graceful bow. “I am Khelben, an associate of Malchor. That most magnificent Harpell bade me to watch for your arrival.”

“A wizard?” Wulfgar asked, not really meaning to speak his thoughts aloud.

Khelben shrugged. “A forester,” he replied, “with a love for painting, though I daresay that I am not very good at it.”

Drizzt studied Khelben, not believing either of his disclaimers. The man had an aura of distinction about him, a distinguished manner and confidence befitting a lord. By Drizzt’s measure, Khelben was more likely Malchor’s peer, at least. And if the man truly loved to paint, Drizzt had no doubt that he had perfected the art as well as any in the North. “A guide through Waterdeep?” Drizzt asked.

“A guide to a guide,” Khelben answered. “I know of your quest and your needs. Passage on a ship is not an easy thing to come by this late in the year, unless you know where to inquire. Come, now, to the south gate, where we might find one who knows.” He found his mount a short distance away and led them to the south at an easy trot.

They passed the sheer cliff that protected the city’s eastern border, a hundred feet high at its peak. And where the cliff sloped down to sea level, they found another city wall. Khelben veered away from the city at this point, though the south gate was now in sight, and indicated a grassy knoll topped by a single willow.

A small man jumped down from the tree as they breached the knoll, his dark eyes darting nervously about. He was no pauper, by his dress, and his uneasiness when they approached only added to Drizzt’s suspicions that Khelben was more than he had presumed.

“Ah, Orlpar, so good of you to come,” Khelben said casually. Drizzt and Wulfgar exchanged knowing smiles; the man had been given no choice in the matter.

“Greetings,” Orlpar said quickly, wanting to finish the business as expediently as possible. “The passage is secured. Have you the payment?”

“When?” Khelben asked.

“A week,” replied Orlpar. “The Coast Dancer puts out in a week.”

Khelben did not miss the worried looks that Drizzt and Wulfgar now exchanged. “That is too long,” he told Orlpar. “Every sailor in port owes you a favor. My friends cannot wait.”

“These arrangements take time!” Orlpar argued, his voice rising. But then, as if he suddenly remembered who he was addressing, he shrank back and dropped his eyes.

“Too long,” Khelben reiterated calmly.

Orlpar stroked his face, searching for some solution. “Deudermont,” he said, looking hopefully to Khelben. “Captain Deudermont takes the Sea Sprite out this very night. A fairer man you’ll not find, but I do not know how far south he will venture. And the price will be high.”

“Ah,” Khelben smiled, “but fear not, my little friend. I have wondrous barter for you this day.”

Orlpar looked at him suspiciously. “You said gold.”

“Better than gold,” Khelben replied. “Three days from Longsaddle my friends have come, but their mounts have not broken even a sweat!”

“Horses?” balked Orlpar.

“Nay, not the steeds,” said Khelben. “Their shoes. Magical shoes that can carry a horse like the wind itself!”

“My business is with sailors!” Orlpar protested as vigorously as he dared. “What use would I find with horseshoes?”

“Calm, calm, Orlpar,” Khelben said softly with a wink. “Remember your brother’s embarrassment? You will find some way to turn magical horseshoes into profit, I know.”

Orlpar took a deep breath to blow away his anger. Khelben obviously had him cornered. “Have these two at the Mermaid’s Arms,” he said. “I will see what I can do.” With that, he turned and, trotted off down the hill toward the south gate.

“You handled him with ease,” Drizzt remarked.

“I held every advantage,” Khelben replied. “Orlpar’s brother heads a noble house in the city. At times, this proves a great benefit to Orlpar. Yet, it is also a hindrance, for he must take care not to bring public embarrassment to his family.

“But enough of that business,” Khelben continued. “You may leave the horses with me. Off with you, now, to the south gate. The guards there will guide you to Dock Street, and from there you will have little trouble finding the Mermaid’s Arms.”

“You are not to come with us?” asked Wulfgar, slipping down from his saddle.

“I have other business,” Khelben explained. “It is better that you go alone. You will be safe enough; Orlpar would not cross me, and Captain Deudermont is known to me as an honest seaman. Strangers are common in Waterdeep, especially down in the Dock Ward.”

“But strangers wandering beside Khelben, the painter, might draw attention,” Drizzt reasoned with good-humored sarcasm.

Khelben smiled but did not answer.

Drizzt dropped from his saddle. “The horses are to be returned to Longsaddle?”

“Of course.”

“Our thanks to you, Khelben,” said Drizzt. “Surely you have aided our cause greatly.” Drizzt thought for a moment, eyeing his horse. “You must know that the enchantment Malchor put on the shoes will not remain. Orlpar will not profit from the deal he made this day.”

“Justice,” chuckled Khelben. “That one has turned many an unfair deal, let me assure you. Perhaps this experience will teach him humility and the error of his ways.”

“Perhaps,” said Drizzt, and with a bow, he and Wulfgar started down the hill.

“Keep your guard, but keep your calm,” Khelben called after them. “Ruffians are not unknown on the docks, but the police are ever-present. Many a stranger spends his first night in the city dungeons!” He watched the two of them descend the knoll and remembered, as Malchor had remembered, those long-ago days when it was he who followed the roads to distant adventures.

“He had the man cowed,” Wulfgar remarked when he and Drizzt were out of Khelben’s earshot. “A simple painter?”

“More likely a wizard—a powerful wizard,” Drizzt replied. “And our thanks again are owed to Malchor, whose influence has eased our way. Mark my words, ‘twas no simple painter that tamed the likes of Orlpar.”

Wulfgar looked back to the knoll, but Khelben and the horses were nowhere to be seen. Even with his limited understanding of the black arts, Wulfgar realized that only magic could have moved Khelben and the three horses from the area so quickly. He smiled and shook his head, and marveled again at the eccentric characters the wide world kept showing him.

Following the directions given to them by the guards at the south gate, Drizzt and Wulfgar were soon strolling down Dock Street, a long lane that ran the length of Waterdeep Harbor on the south side of the city. Fish smells and salty air filled their nostrils, gulls complained overhead, and sailors and mercenaries from every stretch of the Realms wandered about, some busy at work, but most ashore for their last rest before the long journey to points south.